


Bonded

by MissScaryKitty



Category: Death Stranding (Video Games)
Genre: 20 likes, 21 minutes, Action/Adventure, Developing Relationship, Eventual Romance, F/M, Homo Demens (Death Stranding), Original Character(s), Protectiveness, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:01:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26330809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissScaryKitty/pseuds/MissScaryKitty
Summary: Heartman has always fearlessly searched for the truth about the Death Stranding. Unfortunately, his research has caught the attention of Higgs Monaghan who'd like to get his hands on it. As a result, Die-Hardman contracts Reliable, a battle-hardened courier, to become Heartman's new bodyguard. Eventual romance. A good mix of angst and heartwarming moments.
Relationships: Fragile & Original Character(s), Heartman (Death Stranding)/Original Character(s), Higgs Monaghan & Original Character(s)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 8





	1. Fragile & Reliable

**Author's Note:**

> If you haven't finished the game there will be some spoilers in later chapters. I'm following the timeline in the game.  
> Anywho, the first couple of chapters are going to be short and a bit dark, but it's all in service to the larger narrative. Heartman should be coming in by Chapter 3

**Nine Months Before the Last Stranding:**

Fragile appeared on the front steps of Mountain Knot Incinerator in a spark of black beach matter. Timefall was pouring down from the dirty grey sky, spattering onto her boots and pants as she walked past a familiar Chiral Gold defensive trike that had been discarded near the gaping entrance of the building. The back and side of the vehicle was riddled with fresh bullet holes that had chipped the luminous paint and interrupted the trike’s sleek lines. 

Fragile kept close to the concrete pillar that framed the bay door, her blue eyes becoming glassy with tears as she saw Reliable standing by the access terminal alone… without her husband, Tom. It was then that she realized what her friend had done.

She should have been sad for her- for Tom and the whole thing- but the most prominent emotion she was feeling was anger and it only grew with every breath she took. Fragile had begged Reliable not to go to the Homo Demens camp and she didn’t listen. Even though she knew the worst-case scenario, she went anyway. Now Tom was dead and her best porter nearly put another crater in the Mountain Region.

She watched from the doorway, unseen as Reliable slowly shuffled to the center of the room and stood beneath the ghostly blue glow of the chandelier hanging above her. The forward curve of her back and shoulders spoke of exhaustion, her head hung in defeat.

Despite its cold vastness, the room seemed too small to hold more than the woman who currently occupied the space. Still, Fragile couldn’t stand to watch anymore and threw this notion aside as she stormed inside.

Hearing her echoing footsteps as the blonde approached, Reliable turned to see her friend and boss coming towards her. The woman’s face was pinched in a furious scowl- hot tears streaking down her cheeks.

Despite the hallow feeling burrowing in her stomach at having to face her so soon, the raven-haired woman wasn’t surprised to see Fragile looking so betrayed. She’d expected this reaction from the start. That was why she did not move or cry out when the blonde slapped her hard across the face. 

“How could you do it?” The Fragile demanded, staring her down. “You knew what could have happened if you failed to make it here!”

The stinging pain that bloomed on Reliable’s cheek slowly dissipated leaving only a tingle on her skin as she turned her gaze to the set of metal doors of the incinerator she had deposited her husband’s body into only minutes ago. She couldn’t feel the heat from the flames but she could hear the sound of them roaring beneath the earth as they turned flesh and bone to ash that would soon be released into the gray chiral sky. 

“I was never going to make the right choice,” Reliable muttered, numb from the harrowing journey she’d just made from the terrorist camp at the base of the mountain. 

“I can’t have you working for me if this what you’re going to do. Half of America already thinks I’m a terrorist,” Fragile snapped, motioning out the bay door at the Timefall-soaked fields.

“I was never going to leave Tom with those bastards. If you don't like it, then fire me!” Reliable growled.

“I am,” Fragile replied definitively, her gaze unwavering. 

Reliable could have said so many biting things in that moment. How that if Fragile hadn't kept information from her, Tom might still be alive. But she said nothing. Without any form of protest or word in her defense, the raven-haired woman yanked the Fragile Express link from her wrist and handed it over to Fragile.

The blonde-haired woman pressed her lips together in regret as she turned the bracelet over in her hands. “Re, I’m sorry, I really am. What happened to Tom… it’s unforgivable. But you could have caused a voidout.”

Reliable remained silent. There was nothing she could say because Fragile was right. Still, she did what she did because the alternative was too horrific to consider.

Fragile took in a steadying breath before she spoke again. “I’m sorry, but I have to ask; was it the terrorists that killed him?”

Reliable’s haggard gaze flickered up to her former boss; her expression a void. Fragile had her answer.

“I need to be alone,” Reliable murmured as she ran a shaky hand through her dark hair. They were done talking as far as she was concerned.

“Of course,” Fragile nodded soberly, bringing her umbrella to rest on her shoulder. The bracelet that had connected them was held loosely in her other hand.

There was a hint of ozone and a sudden rush before Fragile jumped, leaving Reliable alone to mourn.


	2. Higgs & Reliable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reliable has a timed delivery for Peter Englert.

**Eight Months Before the Last Stranding:**

Reliable’s golden trike glinted in the sharp daylight as it shot across the rocky terrain outside Lake Knot City. Her cargo, of all things, was a pepperoni and olive pizza for a mystery prepper named Peter Englert. She had to deliver it from Mountain Knot Way Station in under 40 minutes. It wasn’t the most degrading package she’s had to deliver since splitting with Fragile still, it was a considerable fall from grace. 

She became a bonded courier knowing if she kept at it long enough to gain traction, she’d rise in the ranks quickly. The problem with becoming an independent courier was not having the proper resources to operate. She couldn’t just get her trike stored and fixed up anywhere anymore, nor could she print equipment at Bridges way-stations without some hefty fees and a bit of begging. Sometimes she’d get lucky and one of her old prepper clients would throw her a free piece of equipment or an extra delivery but a lot of the time her experiences got pretty pride-swallowing.

One such case involved a grouchy junker outside of South Knot City who wouldn’t even let her charge her trike until she carried his corroded trash across BT territory to the tar lake and pitched it in. The only good thing to come out of that experience was a fully charged battery and some ditched cargo she’d picked up along the way to the sludge pit. When she was done, she ended up telling the skinny bastard he wasn’t nearly old enough to be that cynical and to take the stick out of his ass. He gave her a D rating. 

By far, the worst part of her new job was the loneliness. It ate away at her; especially at night when she’d reach for Tom and find nothing but empty sheets under her searching hand. She’d get these same phantom feelings on the road. At times she’d swore someone was standing right beside her, just out of her peripherals, and when she’d turn to look, there would be no one there. It set her heart racing; like waking suddenly from a nightmare. 

On days like this one, where she hadn’t gotten much sleep, her imagination would run wild with thoughts of that day. She’d go over it again and again, trying to puzzle out how she could have saved Tom. An answer never came. It was like she told Fragile at the incinerator, no matter what she chose to do she was never going to make the right decision. 

Suddenly, she heard the soft ring of her Timefall meter in her ear and quickly pulled her hood over her head. The pattering sound of the drops hitting her leather hood only got louder until it was like heavy static in her ears. Five minutes into the brutal downpour and her trike’s low battery alarm pinged insistently from the dash which caused her to speed up. If she was lucky, she could ride out of the Timefall before her trike gave out on her. According to her scanner, there was a charger two miles out from Peter Englert’s bunker. She was currently five miles away from it. 

The Timefall kept pounding down in heavy sheets with no sign of reprieve as Reliable kept trucking on. She continually glanced down at the battery meter as it fell from a tiny red bar to nothing in less than a mile. When the last sliver of the charge bar disappeared, the trike slowed to a full stop, not budging an inch. The raven-haired woman sighed out a frustrated curse as she stayed seated on the trike for a moment to process her shitty predicament. 

Checking her map, she was about 4.2 miles away from the charging station. 

“Fuck me,” she grumbled, kicking her leg over the trike and standing up. 

The Timefall storm looked as if it stretched across the whole red and black plane. There was no escaping it and no chance for shelter other than to head for the charging station and then to her client’s bunker. She could only hope the way was free of BTs. 

Making sure the pizza order was secured to the seat of her trike, Reliable grabbed the handlebars and began walking her ride across the baren wasteland.

…

A golden trike caked in black tar handprints sputtered across the broken terrain outside of Lake Knot City. The rider herself was also covered in the same handprints as she pulled up in front of a lone bunker with a blue Fragile Express delivery hologram hovering in front of it. 

Stumbling off of the trike, Reliable snatched up the single piece of cargo she had to deliver and ran as fast as she could into the entrance of the shelter. She wasted no time accessing the terminal and shoving the tar-smattered Time-fall corroded case onto the shelf that popped up out of the floor on her left. The shelf retracted and a moment later a blank screen appeared on the delivery terminal. She stared at it blankly until she realized that no one was there to receive the package. 

Reliable felt a tinge of irritation that the client had timed her and wasn’t even courteous enough to be there waiting for the delivery. Afterall, she slogged through over four miles of Timefall and almost got devoured by BTs to get it to him.

When her delivery score was posted a moment later, she felt her stomach drop out. A cold and clinical C rating flashed across the screen accompanied by that patronizing upbeat Bridges anthem. She had been 1 minute and 22 seconds late. What was worse than her score was that her connection link to this new client didn’t even budge a hair from zero.

Four weeks of non-stop hell. That’s all it had been since the day Tom died. No one to talk to, no friends, no shoulders to cry on. She thought she could deal with all of it as long as she could rebuild. 

Reliable raked her fingers through her raven hair, the tips having turned white from Timefall, and stepped away from the delivery terminal. She was burning inside- filling up with an inescapable torrent of rage and hopelessness that couldn’t be held back one moment longer. 

Reliable screamed. She screamed as loud and long as she could until her ears rang- until it was the only thing she could hear as she repeatedly kicked her tar-caked boot against the iron wall of the shelter. It tore at her throat and burned her lungs but she could not stop her flood of rage as it reverberated off the metal shell of the bunker. 

The seal holding back weeks of bottled-up fury and despair had been broken and there was no way to force it back inside.

When her lungs finally gave out, she punched the iron wall as hard as she could. Searing pain shot through her hand and raced up her arm. It felt like she had split a knuckle but she didn’t want to remove her glove to see the damage. Once the adrenaline wore off, she knew it would hurt like hell.

The air around her buzzed in the absence of her screams. She cradled her hand to her chest as she tucked her arms close to her ribs for comfort. Hot tears slid down her face as she realized it was the closest she would ever get to a hug. 

“You okay?” A voice with a soft drawl came from the back of the bunker. 

Reliable’s breath caught in her throat, her heart pounding, as she spun around at the sound of the intruder. 

“Who the fuck are you?” She demanded, drawing the survival knife she kept at her hip and nearly stumbling out into Timefall without her hood up. The intruder was a tall, pale, man with dirty blonde hair and shocking blue eyes wearing a black beanie pulled low over his brow.

“Easy there, darlin’. I live here,” he told her holding up his hands to show he meant no harm. “You know... Peter Englert? You just delivered a pizza to me?”

The man’s response bordered on cocky but judging by his tone, it sounded like he meant to deescalate the situation. 

“It’s a delicious pizza by the look of it. A little manhandled, though.” He added, a smile creeping onto his face as that cocky edge of his began to get the better of him. Something about it made Reliable uneasy. 

“I thought you weren’t home,” Reliable muttered, lowering her knife. She didn’t put it away though, and the look in her bloodshot eyes was still distrustful. 

Higgs knew she wasn’t from Bridges just by looking at her. She had no labels on her clothes to denote her delivery faction. Then he caught sight of the heavy-duty cuffs she wore. They weren’t made to link her to any network so much as they were to attach her cargo directly to her. She was a bonded courier. Didn’t see many of those running around, he thought. What the hell was a bonded courier doing delivering a pizza? This woman, the wreck that she was, seemed quite interesting. Dinner and a show, he mused.

“I was momentarily indisposed,” Higgs vaguely explained his absence from the delivery portal. “But I happened to glance up at the security monitor and saw that you were having some… trouble.”

He paused before saying the last word as if he were trying to search for a polite way to phrase what he’d seen.

Reliable felt her cheeks burn red from embarrassment but she assumed they were already pretty red from her tantrum. 

She curtly slid her knife back into its sheath at her hip and pulled her hood up. 

“Yeah, well I’ve got another delivery to make,” she told him, even though she clearly wasn’t carrying another package. 

As she turned to leave, she heard his quick footsteps on the bunker floor as he came up behind her. 

“Whoa, hold on there darlin’. I can’t just let you wail on my home and then let you run off. Besides, your hand’s broken.”

Reliable’s first instinct was to tell him to back off but instead she replied with a dismissive, “My hand’s fine.”

A smirk twisted at the corners of Higgs’s lips as he looked down at her. He wanted so badly to tell her she was lying; to lean in and whisper that he could smell the blood and lick the salt from her cheek that her tears left behind. Stubborn, distrustful, and angry; all the right ingredients for an entertaining Wednesday, he thought. 

“Come on now, don’t be foolish. Come inside, there’s pizza.” He told her casually, motioning to the red-lit bunker door of his home. He could barely hide the beast that was gnashing its teeth from behind his pleasant façade.

Reliable did not seem overly convinced as she stood unmoving at the entrance of the shelter. It was the first time a stranger had ever invited her into their home. It took months of deliveries and building rapport with people before they’d even consider allowing her inside. And that was back when she was working for Fragile Express. She had pulled a knife on this man only moments ago and he was confident she wouldn’t hurt him... or, rather, she wouldn’t be able to. Something didn’t feel right about this. 

“I’m fine out here.” She told him guardedly.

Higgs merely shrugged, easily hiding his disappointment. “Suit yourself. Stay right there, I’ll be back in a moment.” 

Reliable watched him turn and head down the stairs leading into his bunker and considered leaving. However, she didn’t, even though she knew better than to act against her instincts.

A minute later, Higgs emerged from the depths of the bunker to find the woman sitting on the floor near the entrance, watching the Timefall beat down on the craggy rocks of the ebony and russet plain. 

“I picked a pretty nice wasteland to settle down in, didn’t I?” he commented, alerting her to his presence as he set down a bottle of alcohol, a semi-clean rag and a mason jar of floating cryptobites on the floor in front of her. He’d carried it all on top of the pizza box he brought up for himself. He took a seat on the ground across from her and leaned back against the cold metal wall. Flipping the pizza box open, he grabbed a slice. “Me, my pizza and my view. All that’s left to do is wait till the end of the world.” He told her.

Reliable did not sense the underlying gravitas in his words and said nothing in return as she slowly eased her glove off. She’d met plenty of odd preppers in her time delivering around Central and Mountain Knot. This Peter Englert was just one more, she told herself.

Her first guess about splitting her knuckle was correct. The middle knuckle of her right hand was bloodied and broken down the middle. The two on either side of it were scraped up and going to bruise like hell. There was nothing to do but clean it and wait till she could run by The Doctor’s home to get it fully patched up. Maybe she could find some dropped medical cargo along the route to barter with.

Reliable ground her teeth silently, pissed at herself for doing such a stupid thing. Knowing she had to just deal with it, she picked up the bottle of alcohol and twisted the cap off.

“That looks pretty bad, sweetheart,” Higgs observed from his place opposite from her. He looked so casual sitting there with his legs splayed haphazardly in front of him and a half-eaten slice of olive and pepperoni in his hand. “You want me to do the honors?”

Reliable immediately shook her head, declining his offer.

“It’s better if I do it,” she explained, after realizing her silence could be perceived as rudeness.

Higgs grinned to himself, “Cuts the pain a bit, doesn’t it?”

Reliable nodded in agreement before she poured a generous amount of alcohol over her hand. She instantly tensed up, not moving a millimeter as the stinging burn spread through the wound. The only sound that came out of her was a sharp hiss as she bared her teeth.

Higgs couldn’t keep himself from grinning wide in enjoyment as he watched her take the pain like a champ. He knew she wasn’t looking his way anyhow. Pain had been his constant companion for as long as he could remember. The ability to take it, more so, the ability to inflict it on others was pure power.

“I’ll bet you can take a real kicking,” he told her, the words slipping out of his mouth before snapping up another bite of pizza. 

Reliable’s grey eyes flashed up from her hand to his bright blue gaze in alarm. It looked as if she might bolt. 

“Settle down, I’m not offerin’. Just observing,” Higgs snorted, pretending he couldn’t care less about the idea that had gotten his blood pumping. 

“It’s a fucked-up thing to say,” Reliable told him firmly before popping off the top of the jar to the cryptobites. She quickly snatched them up before they could float away and stuffed them into her mouth. The nauseous face she made while eating them amused Higgs. As tolerant of pain as she was, she certainly couldn’t keep her medicine down for shit.

“Fucked-up or not, you gotta be one tough cookie to become a private courier; a bonded courier at that. No Bridges or Fragile Express to back you up.” He stated, actually appearing somewhat serious now.

Reliable nodded in affirmation, “It’s more work and less perks to start, but if I stick with it long enough, it’ll become the opposite.”

Higgs watched her pick up and examine the questionably dirty rag he’d given her. He could see her scrutinizing expression shift to one of mild indifference as she gave up trying to decide if it was okay to use and wiped her tar-streaked face with it. 

“So, the stress of the job’s got you punchin’ steel walls?” He asked, half-joking.

Reliable shot him an irritated look that got him grinning like a wolf among the fold. 

“You mean apart from that C rating you gave me?” She muttered dryly.

Higgs held up his hands and shrugged, “You gotta get here on time of you want an A, sweetheart.”

Reliable restrained herself from slinging an insult at him. Although, it was incredibly tempting. But If she was truly being honest, a part of her was already over it.

“Actually... the truth is my husband died,” she stated frankly, not sure why she was sharing other than it might stun the smug bastard into silence. 

Suddenly, those laser blue eyes locked with hers. His gaze didn’t seem to express much sympathy, if any. Rather, it seemed, that the wheels had begun turning in his head as if he were suddenly trying to piece something together.

He knew there was something about this encounter, about her, that was of significance. He felt the answer was just barely out of his reach. 

“Sorry to hear that,” he told her, shelling out the perfunctory answer he was supposed to give before trying to dig for a little more information. “Is that why you’re going it alone? No Bridges or Fragile Express, I mean.” 

“In a way. After my husband died, I fucked up so bad that neither one will have me,” she confessed, peering over to gauge his reaction. He was the first person she told any of this to. Funny thing was, she wasn’t expecting sympathy or kind words from him. She just wanted to finally say it out loud to someone. To have it out in the open. 

Higgs didn’t say anything for a long moment then put his hand on the pizza box and gave it a good shove. It skidded across the floor and stopped at her side.

“Take a slice. You’ve earned it, darlin’.” He said, seeming almost impressed by how good she’d fucked her life up. 

Reliable couldn’t help but let a wry laugh slip past her lips before grabbing a piece for herself. 

“Thanks,” she told him before tucking in. It really did taste amazing; especially after throwing off those BTs. 

Higgs and Reliable sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the Timefall slowly dissipate. 

“You sure you don’t wanna come inside for a rest?” Higgs asked. 

Maybe he was too hasty, trying to lure her in so soon, but he couldn’t help it. She’d be a perfect sacrifice to his goddess of oblivion. He’d elevate her… give her a purpose greater than any she could fulfill while still living. She’d become a ticking time bomb, waiting to carve another hole into the Central Region as her carcass necrotized.

Reliable’s gaze fell uncomfortably to the floor upon hearing his offer. She interpreted it as an attempt at hitting on her and she really could not have been further removed from the idea of wanting a hookup or anything of the sort. 

“I can’t stay any longer, I’ve got half a work day left,” Reliable replied, before hastily tidying the supplies he’d brought out for her. “Besides, the Timefall has stopped. I’ve got to get moving.”

Higgs watched the woman push herself up to her feet and he calmly followed suit. She seemed to try and be as cool about leaving as possible. But he knew she was on edge. He could see it in her movements and hear it in her voice. It didn’t matter, he thought. She wasn’t going to make it past his scanners.

“Sure. Seems like you’re one busy bee,” Higgs replied offhandedly as he followed her out into the daylight.

Just a few steps closer, he told himself, their boots crunching on the Timefall-sodden ground. Once she was nearly within an arm’s reach, Higgs felt behind him and slipped his chrial knife from the sheath he had hidden beneath his sweater. Suddenly, his eyes caught sight of the bright glint of a chiral gold trike parked outside of the perimeter of his shelter and, for some reason, it caused him to retract from his prey. His arm slackened, as he slipped the knife into his pocket. 

“That your ride?” he asked, seeming oddly curious to know the answer.

She nodded, glancing back at him. “Yeah. Why?

“It’s nice,” he muttered, suddenly recalling the details of what his Homo Demens told him about the woman who raided their encampment a month back. Long black hair with white ends, black hooded jacket, and gold defensive tike. This was her. That could only mean her husband was the Demens she’d killed and rode away with.

Seeing that trike right at that moment was nothing less than a stroke of divine intervention. It was one he was powerless to ignore. Indeed, what a strange Wednesday this turned out to be. This sacrifice would have to wait.

Having made up his mind, Higgs rounded her trike so he was no longer behind her and watched as she got on.

“I don’t think I caught your name darlin’.” He said, waiting with baited breath.

She looked up at him, squinting in the sunlight. “It’s Reliable.”

“Great branding,” he teased, a wide grin spreading across his face. “Well, Reliable, come back anytime. Just be sure to bring pizza.”

The raven-haired woman nodded, wanting to get on the road. “Sure thing.”

Higgs took a few steps back and watched as she pulled out of his shelter’s scanner perimeter and kicked the engine into high gear, tearing off towards Mountain Knot. Soon, she’d be nothing but a speck on the horizon.

He glanced upwards at the chiral umbilical chords stretching down towards the mountains like black cables from the sky and shook his head. Today fate had brought him a gift and like a careless child he almost broke his new toy too soon. Luckily, he was able to stop himself before that happened.

He wanted Reliable to have the chance to build her life back up; to get to a point where she felt real good and safe. He’d even throw some business her way to help her along. That way, when the Last Stranding came, it would be all the more horrific for her when the world burned to ash and she was right in the middle of it.

The end was so close. It would be a shame to for her to miss the fireworks. He had a growing list of people he wanted to bear witness as they were finally wrapped up in the arms of oblivion. Reliable had just made the cut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to structure this story in a circular narrative like the game. There will be repeating themes and visuals that will call back to one another, like the imagery of the trike zipping across the wasteland. I'm going to attempt to have all the major plot points in the beginning come full circle by the end of the narrative. I'm by no means an expert in writing circular narratives. Just trying it out for a fun challenge. Hope you liked this chapter. Got a bit dark. Next chapter will be slightly shorter and will have Sam, Die-Hardman and Heartman <3


	3. Die-Hardman & Reliable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reliable gets a new job offer. It's more than what she's willing to commit to.

**Three Months Before the Last Stranding:**

Sam heard the roar of a vehicle speed down the distro center’s drive towards the garage platform. He turned around just in time to see the rider kick out the back wheel of their chiral gold defensive trike as they came to an abrupt stop, leaving tire marks across the white Bridges lettering painted on the floor. The trike itself was smoking and shooting off sparks- the engine almost seemed like it was gasping its final breaths. The slender rider sighed out an exasperated ‘Jesus’ as they threw back the hood of their fitted jacket. Beneath it was a young woman with long jet-black hair that turned silver at the tips from Timefall. 

“Hey, do you have a timed delivery?” Reliable called over to Sam from the seat of her smoking, sputtering, trike. 

“No,” Sam rasped, adjusting the straps of his pack. “Just dropping off some lost cargo.”

The woman flashed him a grin. 

“Boy Scout, huh? Mind if I went first?” She asked holding up a small metal case. Sam’s brow furrowed when he realized she was handcuffed to it. A bonded courier, he noted. She was the first one he’d seen in about five years. 

“Sure,” Sam muttered, taking a step back from the delivery terminal. She must have been cutting her delivery time short, he thought. He didn’t want to mess things up for her just because he was first in line. 

Sam noticed her cuffs weren’t UCA made. They were custom and heavy-duty. This could only mean she was a private courier. 

The woman tapped her cuffs as she passed, sending him a hefty 200 likes as she did. The flashy gesture and the nonchalant way she did it made Sam uncomfortable. It felt almost transactional.

The woman accessed the terminal and with a few deft taps of her fingers and Aaron Hill’s chiralgram materialized in front of her. The young man seemed pleased to see her.

“Reliable, looks like you made it on time,” the young man grinned. “I know you’ve never missed a deadline, but I was beginning to have my doubts on this one.”

Reliable regarded Aaron with a raised eyebrow, and a teasing smirk. “Sounds like you were almost hoping I’d be late.”

Aaron let out a sheepish laugh, knowing his next words were going to sound foolish. “Nah. Actually, I was starting to think something might have gone wrong.”

Reliable hooked her fingers through her belt loops where her baton and survival knife were hanging from their respective attachments. Since she only carried one piece of cargo at a time, she was able to have armor clipped to both her shoulders and her thighs. Those too were custom made and sleeker in design than the bulky UCA armor plates that tended to get caught on everything.

“Ran into some trouble in the valley,” she sniffed dismissively. “This is some really nice cabernet I’ve brought you. So, who’s the lucky lady?”

Aaron chuckled at her attempt to get him to reveal why he needed the pricy wine. 

“Nice try, but you’re way off. Just wait a minute and I’ll pass you the key.” He told her, his image fizzling out as he turned around to access the chiral printer.

A moment later, a freshly made key was passed to her via the conveyor belt by her hip. Taking it, Reliable unlocked the end of the cuff with the package attached to it and placed the order on the conveyor belt. It zipped up the track into the sorting center beyond the glass and was carried away by the processing machines in a flash. A second later, Aaron’s chiralgram appeared again. He was now holding a bottle of red wine in his hand. Quietly reading over the label he nodded, impressed with the product. 

“Damn… this is nice. Thanks for bringing it here in one piece.” He told her, unable to hide the small grin that gave away how grateful he was. Perhaps he did get it for a special someone, Reliable thought to herself. 

“Just don’t drink it all on your own.” 

“Sure, Re. Thanks again.” He told her with a lightness in his tone. His chiralgram then fizzled out bringing her back to the delivery menu. 

Sam, who was standing off to the side, was able to get a sneak peek at her delivery score. To his surprise, it was off the charts. Not-to-mention Aaron shot her a whopping 500 likes. He quickly averted his gaze when she turned back towards him. 

“Hey, I appreciate the help. I’m Reliable, formerly of Fragile Express,” she told him from over her shoulder as she crossed the hangar floor to her trike. Sam inwardly breathed a sigh of relief that she had not bothered to try to shake his hand. She seemed a bit too wrapped up in her own thing for any formal pleasantries anyway.

“Sam Bridges,” he replied, furrowing his brow as he watched her give the vehicle’s front end an experimental nudge with the toe of her boot. Suddenly, the engine blew and steam began pouring out from under the hood.

“Great…” she muttered. She did not seem overly surprised, though. Reliable took a few moments to tap an order into her cufflink before looking back up at him, “So, Sam Bridges, The Man Who Delivers. I don’t know how you do it. All that work and no reward.” 

Sam merely stared at her, his jaw tightened in a visible show of mild standoffishness. The raven-haired woman let out a laugh in response to his silence. She didn’t mean offense… not really, anyway.

“What’s there to say? Some people just have heart,” she told him, seeming to admire that trait but also implying she wasn’t built like that. “But I’ll bet those UCA big wigs haven’t stepped a foot outside their cities since Central Knot became a crater. Just don’t let them trick you into doing all their heavy lifting.” 

“Who says I’m doing it for them?” He replied testily. 

Reliable offered him a small placating twist of her lips. It seemed she had wandered into some touchy territory. Afterall, he used to be an independent porter like herself. There was a reason why he was working for the UCA now and it probably wasn’t so bland a reason as American patriotism. “I wasn’t judging. Just warning you to look out for yourself. As long as you keep hitting your deadlines, they’re not going to care what it costs you. Anyway, my ride is toast so it looks like I’m staying the night. You have my contact now. Give my cuffs a ring if you need a favor. I owe you.”

Sam felt himself physically tense at her frankness. What bothered him was the truth her cynical words held. The distro center’s warning sirens suddenly went off in the hangar as the round platform Reliable was standing on began to lower into the floor. She gave him a single wave, almost a salute, before disappearing into the depths of the building. 

“Don’t wait up,” Sam muttered before heading to the terminal.

He accessed it and dropped off the lost cargo he’d picked up on the route back from the Geologist. Suddenly, Die-Hardman appeared in chiralgram form in front of him.

“Sam. That was Reliable. She’s a bonded courier who operates in the Central and Mountain Region.”

“Interesting woman,” Sam replied, the edge of sarcasm in his voice was not lost on Die-Hardman. He was well aware of Reliable’s sharper edges. From what he had read on her, they came with a territory. 

“Bonded couriers might not have the best reputation among other porters because of their single package limit, but they get the job done no matter how difficult the task. Timefall, BTs, terrorists, they’ll weather it all and under the strict conditions set by the sender. The package goes wherever they go and they go wherever the package goes. That’s their promise. The keys to unlock the package from their cuffs are printed new every time and are held only by the package recipient. If they don’t make the delivery that can only mean the porter themselves didn’t make it.”

Sam’s mouth pressed into a thin line; not overly pleased by what he was hearing. “So basically, you’re saying they put their life up as collateral for a safe delivery. Must be one hell of an important order.”

Die-Hardman heard the disapproval in Sam’s voice but did not miss a beat. “Sometimes they can be. Other times, people just want the extra insurance for valuable cargo. Bonded couriers are popular with preppers and researchers who are willing to shell out the extra fees.”

“So that’s the catch, huh? The harder the job, the better the perks?” Sam asked. 

“That’s one way to put it. They tend to get more likes, wider access to resources, more bandwidth shared with them and, like you, a place to rest their head at night. While most bonded couriers take on assignments for the clout, others do it because they need a quick-and-easy way to change their bad circumstances.” Die-Hardman explained, leaving out the fact that the desperate ones never lasted long. 

“What kind is Reliable?” Sam asked curiously, looking over at Die-Hardman out of the corner of his eye. 

Sam could have sworn he heard a tinge of mirth in Die-Hardman’s voice as he responded. “If I had to guess, I’d say a bit of both. She had a falling out with Fragile a while back and struck out on her own. One thing is for sure, Reliable is exceptional at what she does. I’ve been trying to get ahold of her for some time now.”

Sam grunted at the idea of dealing with another nosy porter of Fragile’s ilk. “You looking for another recruit?” 

“No. But there is a job I’d like to hire her for.”

“Good luck with that,” Sam murmured. He didn’t even know the woman and it was clear she had no love for the UCA and he doubted there was anything Die-Hardman could offer her to change her mind- not like how Amelie had changed his mind.

“We can only hope for the best. Take care, Sam.”

Once Die-Hardman hung up, Lou let out a small cooing noise as she yawned in her pod. They both needed a rest, he thought. His next destination was The Geologist’s bunker and there wouldn’t be much time for sleep along the way. 

Accessing the portal again, Sam grabbed himself a private room. If anyone were within earshot, they would have heard him mutter something about bonded couriers before riding the platform down to his accommodations for the night. 

…

The moment Reliable entered her private room, she stripped down to nothing and practically ran into the shower. The best part about BRIDGES private rooms was the fact that they always had hot water for showers and she could stay in for however long she wanted. No five-minute rule like other outposts. It was truly a luxury she would never get tired of. 

Admittedly, the last five months had been good to her. She had built quite a name for herself as a bonded courier. There was no shortage of people who wanted the extra security for their packages that she was able to provide. Not only that, people would specifically seek her out for stolen package retrieval from MULE and Demens camps. She had become very good at it too.

After the incident at Peter Englert’s, she knew she had to shape up. A split knuckle and a little tough love went a long way in helping her get back on her feet. In fact, it drove her to become one of the highest-ranked private couriers in the Central Region. Also, Peter had continued to do business with her which, at first, she found pretty surprising. Eventually, she got used to receiving order requests from him and was grateful for his business.

They never really became friends. But on occasion he’d send her a flowery message thanking her for delivering exceptional pizzas or whatever it was he had ordered. He’d throw in the occasional quip about not hearing the sound of her boot kicking on his shelter wall when she made the delivery and sign off in a ridiculous fashion. It would always be something like: “Most remarkably yours, Peter Englert” or “Eternal gratitude for your service, Peter Englert”. She found a measure of comfort in his continued presence as she worked her way towards a new version of normal. 

She still thought about Tom everyday. Especially at night. The phantom feelings she got out on the road never really went away either. Every now and then she’d feel the need to reach for a hand that wasn’t there or look behind her shoulder to find herself staring out at an empty landscape. But the more she buried herself in her work, little by little, she was beginning to have mostly uninterrupted days. 

Nights were still hard, though. Without work to occupy herself, she couldn’t keep her disturbing thoughts from taking a life of their own. In the dark, her mind would wander down twisted paths that would work her into a panic. Most often, she’d wonder if Tom was stranded on the Beach, his Ka trapped there forever, and if she’d end up the same way; alone in an unending purgatory for what she had done. What was the price of their sins? What if there was no price and all that lay beyond the Beach was oblivion? Oftentimes, when her mind would spiral like this, she’d have to shake herself out of it by slapping herself or talk to her reflection in the mirror. She mutter quietly in the darkness of her room that the past couldn’t be altered and all possible futures, including what happens after death and the Beach, were unknown. She couldn’t dwell on what she could not change and what she could not know.

Today, however, Reliable was not stuck in her head. She was enjoying what luxuries a BRIDGES private room could afford her by spending a languid 20 minutes taking a hot shower. Feeling tawny-skinned and relaxed, Reliable finally turned the water off which engaged the automatic dryer. Once the doors opened, she stepped out and grabbed up a pair of black boy shorts and matching t-shirt to sleep in. After slipping them on, she plopped down on the bed with an exaggerated sigh. Regardless of being shot at by terrorists earlier in the day, it seemed she was finally able to enjoy a sliver of peace. That was until, suddenly and without warning, she caught sight of a stocky man wearing a suit and black skull mask in the corner of the room. 

“Fuck!” Reliable cried, her heart seizing in her chest.

Without another word, she grabbed up a can of Monster Energy from the nightstand and chucked it as hard as she could at the intruder’s head. The can flew straight through him and exploded against the wall behind him in a fizzy mess. Turned out he was a chiralgram.

Realizing his mistake, the stranger immediately spun 180 degrees so he was no longer facing her. “My apologies! You’re not hooked up with the UCA network. I didn’t know you weren’t decent.”

Reliable grit her teeth as she snatched up her pants from the floor and slipped them on over her shorts. 

“Seems to me like you’re the one who isn’t decent. Who the fuck are you?” She demanded, briskly zipping up the fly and buttoning the waistband.

“Again, I am very sorry. My name is Die-Hardman, I work as the Director to President Strand.” He explained, regaining his professional composure. 

“Wow, okay… to what do I owe this great honor?” Reliable asked, the irritation in her voice was palpable as her sarcastic words fell easily off her tongue. “You can turn around now.” 

Die-Hardman pivoted around slowly to find Reliable had put on a pair of charcoal BDUs. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest as she stared him down.

“Forgive my intrusion but I have a job offer for you.” He told her. 

“I already have a job,” she answered curtly. 

Die-Hardman figured that would be her response, more or less. It didn’t deter him. Although he had pictured this conversation going quite differently, he felt he could still steer it back on track. 

“You deliver wine and rare art to people who can afford those luxuries. I’m talking about a job serving your country. Using your unique skills for a higher calling and not just for your own benefit but for the benefit of everyone.”

Reliable didn’t move from her spot across from him. Her eyebrow cocked sharply as she took in what he said. 

“Do you really think high-roading me is the best approach? Maybe you should have waited till I had some more clothes on before bursting into my room and trying that. Besides, why not ask your golden boy, Sam Bridges to do it?”

“Sam needs to continue his journey West. More importantly, he’s not cut out for this job.” Die-Hardman explained. 

He could tell this detail piqued Reliable’s curiosity. It got him hoping. 

“What _is_ the job?” Even though she was tentative to ask, she wanted to know what delivery contract the UCA thought Sam Porter Bridges couldn’t do.

“Have you ever heard of Heartman, the Beach Scientist?” Die-Hardman asked. 

Reliable cocked her head to the side, curious to know how this question was relevant. “I have, but I don’t know anything about him other than he’s on BRIDGES roster of VIPs.”

Die-Hardman nodded, figuring she wouldn’t know much about what was going on in the UCA. “All things considered, Heartman could be at the top of that list. His research has been invaluable to our efforts in understanding the Death Stranding and the Beach. He may very well be the one who discovers the truth behind all of it.”

Die-Hardman could tell Reliable was listening closer now. She was definitely interested to hear where this was going. 

“We’ve recently uncovered some disturbing intel. It seems the terrorist, Higgs, has taken an interest in getting a hold of Heartman and his research. He sent an order out to the Central and Mountain region terrorist cells to make the capture of Heartman a top priority. Under no circumstances can this happen. I need a porter like you who’s skilled in both combat and transport to make sure Heartman and his research are safe.”

“Excuse me?” The words tripped out of Reliable’s mouth as she gathered what Die-Hardman was asking her to do. “You seem to have your wires crossed. I’m a porter, not a soldier.”

“Deliveries might be your profession but I know what you are capable of. What you did at that Homo Demens camp five months ago is proof of that.”

Reliable felt her stomach immediately knot-up at the mention of the Demens camp. She wanted to know how he could have possibly gotten that information. 

“That was a mistake.” She told him plainly, all the while feeling the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Her stomach was like a hollowed-out pit. 

“You had a hard choice to make, but you did the right thing.” He told her. 

Reliable shot Die-Hardman a rueful look which told him she did not hold the same opinion. He understood her point of view. He knew what it was like to have to live out a lose/lose scenario. 

“I would have made the same decision, without question,” he told her firmly, speaking to her now as one soldier would another. “You and I are cut from the same cloth. We can make the tough choices others can’t. That’s why I need you for this job and no one else.”

Reliable’s gaze fell to the floor somewhere between both of their feet. She never considered the idea of taking on human cargo… which was essentially what he was asking her to do. The implication that her life was worth less than another’s didn’t sit well with her. But, if she was being honest, this thought almost bordered on absurd considering she risked her life daily for people’s packages. Still, the responsibility of protecting another person was more than daunting. She wasn’t even able to save Tom.

“Once you meet Heartman and learn what he’s discovered in his research, I think you’ll be able to grasp the importance of the work you’ll be doing.”

“You seem pretty certain I’m going to agree to this. What are the incentives? And don’t say the honor of serving my country.”

Die-Hardman inwardly sighed. There was nothing the UCA could offer her that she would consider of value. She already had the earned all the perks of an honorary BRIDGES member and whatever she couldn't get at a BRIDGES way-station, she could get from peppers. There was only one incentive he had left, though he wasn't overly keen on using it.

“Although I said I agreed with your decision at the Demens camp, it certainly wasn’t above board. Failure on your part would have caused a massive voidout. The UCA hasn’t brought you in to account for your actions only because they are not yet aware of them.”

Every muscle in Reliable’s body tensed, bristling at the threat Die-Hardman was leveling at her. “So you’re blackmailing me.”

Suddenly, the jarring sound of an incoming call filled the room. The ringer was a sped-up, version of a classic, if not stereotypical, funeral march. 

“Hello, this is Heartman. May I interject?” The voice was soft yet confident and the accent distinctly British.

If Die-Hardman was annoyed by the scientist’s unexpected intrusion, he didn’t show it. Meanwhile, Reliable felt like her private room was more akin to a conference room. The sarcastic edge in her wondered when the clown car was going to burst in through the equipment wall. 

“Go ahead, Heartman.” Die-Hardman acquiesced, speaking to the air around him. 

Once Die-Hardman gave him the floor, Heartman began to speak again. 

“Reliable, I understand the awkwardness of this situation. You are right to have your reservations. Believe me when I tell you, having to consent to a live-in bodyguard is not ideal for me either. 

“But, if it is true that Higgs wishes to get a hold of me and, by extension, my research on the Beach, the results of such an incident occurring could be catastrophic. His DOOMS levels are already off the charts. He can control BTs in a manner which is not only unprecedented but also horrific when one conjures up all the possibilities he can use this power for.

“At best, if he simply wishes to kill me, BRIDGES would be deprived of any new discoveries I may have found in the future and all Beach-related research would grind to a halt. At worse, he will glean information from me about the Beach that could allow him to hasten the Last Stranding. With what I’ve discovered about the Beach plus my intimate knowledge of the BRIDES Chiral network, Higgs could effectively gather all the information he needs to launch a one-man assault on the Knot Cities and successfully level them to the ground. This is a risk we cannot afford to take.” 

Reliable was silent as she took in everything Heartman just told her. If what he said was true, it was all pretty compelling. This wasn’t just a UCA problem. It was a situation that could lead to a Game Over for everyone. She would have been heartless not to feel some sort of responsibility to prevent it. But on that same note, what the hell did they think she could do about it? If they thought she could stop Higgs, they were insane.

Heartman noticed Reliable’s internal struggle to formulate a response and, being the Homo Loquins he was, took it upon himself to speak again.

“Reliable, if I may make bold suggestion, I have a package that needs delivering within the next 48 hours. If you would be willing to accept the order assignment, I could better explain my unique situation here at my lab. Afterwards, if you decide the job is not for you then you can be on your way, no questions asked.”

Reliable looked over to Die-Hardman, waiting for him to shoot down this option and continue to play hardball, but he didn’t. It seemed he was willing to support Heartman’s proposal.

Accepting the order assignment would at least allow her to leave the facility. This room could easily become a prison cell if she refused.

“Alright. I’ll head out in the morning.” She told him. It didn’t exactly feel like she was giving in. But she knew by doing this she was already dipping her toe into the murky waters of commitment.

“I’ll be waiting for your arrival.” Heartman told her before hanging up, leaving her and Die-Hardman to deal with one another.

“You’ve got the wrong porter for the job,” she flat-out informed Die-Hardman. She wasn't going to waste any time in letting him know her thoughts. 

“Call it a hunch, but I don’t think I do. Be sure to get some rest. I’ll be in contact soon.”

Die-Hardman’s Chiralgram dissolved leaving Reliable alone in her private room.

That night, she slept in her pants.


	4. Reliable and Heartman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reliable makes a perilous journey up a waterfall and over a mountain to meet Heartman in person. When she comes face-to-face with the Beach Scientist, she's not quite sure what to make of him. It's going to take longer than twenty-one minutes to get the full story.

**The Next Morning:**

Reliable rode the circular elevator platform up to the ground floor of the Mountain Knot distro center. The tire marks she had left the night before had been scrubbed off the white BRIDGES lettering as if she hadn’t been there just hours before. There was little sleep to be had last night but, in this moment, she was ready and resigned to taking on this order for Heartman.

She wore her usual black hooded jacket and black pants but instead of an armor plate on her left shoulder she had attached a heating unit. It sat there, bulky and obtrusive, like a BB pod worn wrong. Still, a bit of awkwardness was a small price to pay for not freezing to death in the snow.

According to her map, Heartman’s lab was nestled in a crater high in the mountains. It was not easily accessible, but not all-together impossible with some skill in mountaineering and the right equipment. 

It looked like the shortest route was to climb up the side of a waterfall located behind The Doctor’s bunker. It was going to be a rough journey, but she would avoid all BT territory by going this way. 

Once the elevator was locked into place, Reliable strode over to the access terminal. Opening her delivery requests menu, she saw Heartman’s timed order at the top of her list.

She paused in tapping commands on the screen as she read that the package contained heart medication. 

She stared at the order curiously, remembering Heartman said he’d explain more about his situation to her once she arrived at his lab. It was then she realized he hadn’t been referring to the terrorists when he said this. He must have some kind of heart condition that made him vulnerable. Reliable could only wonder how severe it was that he couldn’t be moved to a more secure facility. 

There were no answers to be had just standing at the terminal, so she accepted the delivery order with a single decisive stroke of her finger. Next she pulled up the menu to fabricate equipment. Anticipating the uphill trek that lay ahead of her, Reliable stocked up on ladders and climbing anchors, along with some power gloves, all-terrain boots and a BT handgun just incase. Inputting her equipment order, she sent it off to be processed. 

Moments later, her new gear along with a small silver case wrapped in yellow tape zipped down the conveyor belt and stopped by her side. 

After situating her climbing equipment in her pack, she turned her focus on the package. Taking hold of the free end of her cuff, she extended the lead a couple feet and attached it to the handle of the case. 

The chain of her cuffs was a retractable cable that could extend out 15 feet. This allowed for ease of movement and gave her the option of putting packages in her backpack or on an equipment hook. 

Reliable secured the bonded parcel in her backpack and headed up the ramp out of the distro center on foot. Her trike would have to sit this one out. 

…

The Doctor’s bunker was located in the narrowest part of the valley where two mountain ranges in the Central Region met. The land there was green all year due to the constant mists from the white falls that sprung from the snowy top of the mountains only a few meters up the trail. 

Reliable curled her left hand closed as a shiver of remembrance ran up her arm as she passed The Doctor’s home. He had fixed her hand up the day after she had broken it, spraying some sort of polymer into her split knuckle that smelled an awful lot like super glue. Whatever it was that he used, it had worked. Though, her knuckle was thicker than before, raised higher than the rest. Every now and then, especially in the cold, the knuckle would pulse in a dull ache and become harder to open and close. 

At the top of the hill behind the prepped unit, Reliable blinked in surprise upon seeing a hot spring bisecting the narrow deer trail she’d been following. It was an unexpected sight. She backtracked a few feet and placed a sign alerting fellow porters of its location. If she couldn’t enjoy a relaxing dip, then maybe someone else would come along and do so in her place.

Feeling like she did her part, Reliable took a running leap across the little pool and made her way up the ever-narrowing path to the waterfall.

The closer she got, the more soggy and slippery the ground became. In some areas, she could feel her boot heels beginning to sink into gritty mud as they tried to make purchase. She was going to have to proceed with caution.

Soon she came to a point where the little trail ended. Examining the situation before her, Reliable could tell by looking the way up was going to be much more treacherous than what she had first thought. 

The water from the roaring falls had carved out a deep groove into the mountainside leaving jagged, slick walls of brown rock that jutted up vertically into the air. The sheerness of the terraced rockfaces left little room for a climbing ladder to make purchase much less reach the foot of the net outcropping. 

Reliable sighed, realizing that this route was almost as dangerous a trek through BT territory. One slip and Game Over. She was going to have to get creative if she was going to press on this way. 

Taking out a ladder from her pack, she lined up a safe place to put it so it wouldn’t slip from its moorings as the climbed. Once it was extended, the metal rungs wracking against one another in a sharp mechanical motion, she climbed up it onto the first ledge. Gazing up at the next outcropping, she realized this one was going to be tricky. The ladder wasn’t going to get her all the way up, but it could take her most of the way. Finding a secure spot, she extended the second ladder and climbed it to the top where she found she was about five feet away from the top of the next ledge.

Careful to keep her balance, she reached behind her and pulled out a climbing anchor from her pack. In one sharp jabbing motion, she drove it as hard as she could into the rock above her. Using it as a handgrip, she climbed up until her feet were on the last wrung of the ladder. Pulling out another anchor, she jammed it into the rock a few feet above the first. Using this one as a new handhold, she carefully stepped off of the ladder and onto the first anchor. 

She stiffened upon hearing the heart-stopping sound the first anchor groaning under her weight. There was absolutely no time to lose. 

Pulling out a final anchor, she stepped up onto the second and slammed it into the top of the outcropping. Her foot left the first anchor just in time as it broke loose from the rockface and clattered against the metal rungs of the ladder before tumbling into the mists of the falls. 

She quickly shifted her whole weight onto the second anchor as she regained her balance- her heart nearly beating out of her chest- then pulled herself up onto the ledge using the third as a final handhold.

Pushing herself up from her hands and knees, she let out an airy laugh, partly relieved to be on solid ground and partly astonished her risky stunt had worked. 

Taking a moment to catch her breath, she glanced upwards at what was left of the waterfall to conquer. 

...

When Reliable reached the top of the mountain, she trudged through the snow to the point where her next step would be downhill. Pausing, she looked out at her surroundings. The raven-haired porter was greeted by the sight of Heartman’s lab about 8 meters directly below her. The rectangular building with its flat, snow-covered, roof stuck out of the side of the mountain. 

She carefully descended a about three meters down the freshly powdered slope before pinging the lab’s scanners. A blue wave of light starting around the perimeter raced low over the ground towards the isolated structure. 

“Scanning Porter ID. Clear. Weapons detected. All weapons will be locked until departure.” Warned the electronic security system. 

Reliable’s fingers brushed over the survival knife at her belt before pulling it halfway out its sheath and thinking that not all weapons were that easily controlled. Her knife, like all bonded courier’s knives, was insurance. It was a simple tool, just like a rope. And like a rope, it had a simple- if not opposite- function. Her cuffs kept her cargo close to her and her knife could separate it from her. Though, she had yet to meet a bonded courier who had to cut off their own hand on a job.

She had heard stories from people she met on the road. Strangers who shared unsolicited here-say about others in her profession. Mostly about porters who were acquaintances of an acquaintance- either they didn’t know their name or had forgotten. The unnamed protagonist inevitably ended up getting stuck in a no-win scenario and tried to escape it by cutting off their own hand. Of course, as these stories always went, they died. Whether it was from bleeding out, exposure or shock, it didn’t matter. They always died.

Abandoning these morbid thoughts, Reliable slid down the little slope until her feet met the roof of Heartman’s lab. She walked across the flat white surface until she came to the front edge where, below her, a large heart-shaped lake stretched across the bottom of the glittering white crater the lab was nestled in. The view was not only breathtaking but unexpectedly charming.

Heading back the way she came, she climbed down the metal ladder that was bolted to the side of the building down to the upper terrace. From there she took a set of stairs that stretched down to the first floor. 

Most of the lab’s outer walls were constructed with floor-to-ceiling tinted glass including the elegant front doors that slid open with barely a sound as she approached. 

Reliable didn’t know what to expect stepping inside but when she did, she audibly sighed in relief as a wave of heat washed over her. Something so simple as a heated room felt absolutely glorious after that climb. Her whole body shivered, trying to shake off the cold as quickly as possible. 

The heating system wasn’t the only thing that grabbed Reliable’s attention. The entryway itself was strikingly beautiful. The walls were lined with charcoal and russet slate instead of the usual cold grey steel of a typical BRIDGES facility. A modern fireplace was built into the rock and stretched around the room like a ribbon of flame. The whole aesthetic was warm and inviting. Reliable, who was used to seeing the insides of bunkers and way stations, was shocked that something like this existed. 

A black metal delivery terminal popped out of the floor as she stepped further into the room. Reliable was tentative to access it. The moment she did, she’d be face-to-face with her potential new client- or assignment? Whatever he was considered.

She raised her un-cuffed hand to select the delivery option on the menu screen but it just hovered in front of her, unmoving. A ball of anxiety sat in her stomach as she battled with what she should do. 

From the way Die-Hardman, Heartman and her left things the night before, it seemed they reached an agreement that she could leave if she did not agree to accept the job. No strings attached. But was that really true? 

Without warning, she heard the door down the hall open. Her breath caught in her throat as a man she could only assume was Heartman stepped out into the hall.

“Hello. Reliable I presume?” He greeted, a watery smile barely tugging at the corner of his lips. 

Heartman did not outright approach her but instead stayed by the door to his lab where he was clearly more comfortable. 

Reliable didn’t know what she was expecting him to look like but the man standing before her wasn’t it. She thought he’d be much older for starters considering his package contained heart medication. This man was middle-aged, smartly dressed in a tailored lightning blue suit and designer glasses and had a bright yellow AED strapped to his chest. 

“Hi.” She replied lamely. Her single syllable greeting getting swallowed up in the tall entryway. “I’ve brought your medicine. Would you like me to put it on the shelf?” She added making a slight gesture towards the terminal. 

Heartman offered her an encouraging twist of his lips seeing the conflict in her eyes. To him, she appeared very much like a fish out of water. 

“No need, I already have the key printed. The lab is just through here. Let’s get that case off of you and then we can have our chat.” He told her with a wave of his hand before heading back inside the room from where he first emerged.

Reliable stared after him, briefly twinging in remembrance of the last time a stranger invited her into his home. The circumstances were completely different, but the feeling of reluctance was still there. Before he could notice her delay, she followed him. 

Turning into the doorway, Reliable caught sight of a looming dark figure out of the corner of her eye and immediately gave herself a wide birth. Her eyes flicked upward and she jumped seeing not one but two terrifying wraith statues suspended from the ceiling. Their black glossy shine made them look like they were covered in oil, arms outstretched to snatch passerby’s and smother them in their viscous goo. 

“Holy- Why do you have those?” She exclaimed.

Heartman turned to look at the poly molded specters, his eyes lighting up.

“Oh, those are full-scale models of BTs. They were made by compiling all the current data and eyewitness accounts from people afflicted with DOOMS. They are the closest replicas that have been made to date.” There was no hiding the edge of fascination and excitement in his voice. 

Reliable merely grimaced. She found nothing exciting about the ghastly creatures and instead wondered why he had hung them right by the door. 

Heartman lead her past several disturbing artist renderings of the same creatures and down a small set of stairs into the main seating area of the lab. It wasn’t until she was at the bottom of the steps that she noticed the blue padded floor. In fact, the walls were covered in the same diamond cushioned padding too. It made the room feel almost womb-like. Cozy, despite the various oddities he had displayed around the space. 

Multiple questions were stacking up in her mind by the second but she said nothing as Heartman stopped in front of a small round table positioned beside a white fainting chair. On it sat a Chiral hourglass, the gold sand at the top nearly drained, and the key to her cuffs. 

“I would offer you some tea or coffee, but time is running short,” he told her. His voice was soft but wasn’t lacking in surety as he held out the key to her. “First things first.”

Reliable took the bit of metal from him and removed the package from her backpack. The key turned easily in the lock on her cuff. Once she was free, she handed the case over to Heartman. 

“And that’s our contract closed,” he told her before giving her a solid thumbs up. 

A little digital heart appeared atop his thumb and twenty likes popped up on her cuffs along with the additional 600 likes and a perfect score for the delivery. Reliable blinked, not quite sure how he did that. Before she could ask, her thoughts were interrupted by an electronic notification from his AED.

“Five minutes to cardiac arrest.” The AI informed. The monotone voice lacked the urgency the situation seemed to call for.

Reliable’s gaze flashed to his in alarm. They were the color of Timefall, Heartman noted. Gray was not a common color, genetically speaking. Hers were striking. 

“Nothing to worry about. It’s quite normal I assure you. You must have a lot of questions. Let me start by answering the most pressing ones,” he told her, a wry grin tugging at his lips as he motioned towards the black L-shaped couch. Noticing she was waiting for him to make the first move, he sat down. Reliable then tentatively took a seat on the couch perpendicular to him. “My heart stops every twenty-one minutes. I spend three minutes on the Beach and then return. That’s sixty deaths and sixty resurrections per day. I’ve traveled to and from the Beach a total of two hundred eighteen thousand five hundred and seventy-four times.”

“How is that possible?” Reliable asked, looking at him as if he were something of the supernatural. Considering how he felt about his own existence, she wouldn’t be too far off in assuming so.

“I guess you could say it was made possible by myself and my desire to find my departed family. They are on the Beach, you see, and I’ve been searching for them every day since they were taken from me.”

Reliable felt her heart clench in her chest at this revelation. The pain of grief was clear on Heartman’s face as he spoke. 

“I would induce cardiac arrest three minutes at a time to search the Beach for my wife and child. Day after day after day without pause- without thought of what the process was doing to my heart. Eventually, over time, it grew weaker and the muscle gradually deformed. I developed a very rare case of myocardial cordiformia.”

Reliable’s brow knit in curiosity. She had never heard of such a condition. “What is that?”

Heartman seemed somewhat glad she asked. He waved his hand across the floor-to-ceiling windows at the back of the room and they dimmed to black, transforming into a screen displaying an x-ray of his heart. The organ was shaped just like the traditional symbol of a heart, bowed at the top and sloping downwards into a point at the bottom. It looked sickly as it laboriously pumped away- doing what it could to keep its owner alive. 

Suddenly the clinical voice of the AI cut in. “Two minutes to cardiac arrest. Ensure you are in a stable position.”

Reliable felt her own heart sink down into her stomach at the thought of what this man’s grief was doing to him. She couldn’t help but compare it with her own. Instead of separating herself from this world like Heartman, she dug in as deeply as she could to hold onto what little she had left. 

“This is Heartman’s heart-shaped heart,” he told her, seeming morbidly impressed with how far his obsession had pushed his body physically. “It stops every twenty-one minutes with or without my help now. As you can imagine, such a handicap makes me rather delicate cargo.”

Until hearing the word cargo Reliable wasn’t sure what all this was leading to. Now she thought she finally had a grasp of the situation. 

“Is this why Die-Hardman chose me? In case you need to be transported?” She asked, now hungry for answers. Heartman’s story had drawn her in and she wanted to know how he and Die-Hardman thought she fit into the narrative of his seemingly impossible existence. 

The AI voice interrupted them once more. “One minute remaining. Please hold on to something secure.”

“Please forgive me, I would very much like to answer your question, but I must go back to the Beach.” He said, heading over to the white fainting chair and settling himself on it.

“Activating lab security measures,” The AI informed as a steal shield dropped down in front of the windows, plunging the room into darkness. Soft blue and magenta lights mounted atop the bookshelves took the place of the sunlight creating an ethereal glow in the darkened room. 

Reliable felt a lump growing in her throat as she prepared for… she didn’t quite know what. Heartman on the other hand, seemed quite calm as he found a comfortable position on the couch.

“I apologize for the inconvenience. Would you mind waiting until I returned to finish our conversation? I promise it will only seem like three minutes to you.”

“Kind of late to turn back now,” Reliable smirked considering she was already locked in the room. “Three minutes?” She asked, making sure she understood.

Heartman nodded in affirmation. “Three minutes.”

As the AED counted him down from five, he quickly turned the Chiral hourglass upside down resetting the timer.

“-three, two, one.” 

At the end of the countdown, Heartman’s body gradually went slack and the heart monitor in the room flatlined. For the fourty-fifith time that day, Heartman died.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whelp, Reliable our good ol' knight in Chiral armor has scaled the mountain to protect princess Heartman. Let's see what happens next!


End file.
